How does The Blade Itself end?
Rather than reaching a climax, the novel leaves three journeys just getting underway. Bayaz gathers Logen, Malacus Quai, Brother Longfoot, Ferro, and an unwilling Jezal and sets out over the sea for the Edge of the World, hunting an ancient relic he names the Seed. Glokta, handed a likely fatal promotion, sails for Dagoska as its new Superior, closing the book by once again asking himself why he does this. Meanwhile Major West and the Northmen march toward the war against Bethod in Angland.
What is Bayaz's quest at the end of The Blade Itself?
Bayaz reveals his true purpose only at the end — an expedition to the Edge of the World to recover a relic known as the Seed, whose function he refuses to explain. His party is Logen, the apprentice Malacus Quai, the navigator Brother Longfoot, the escaped slave Ferro, and Jezal, forced to come by order of High Justice Marovia despite furious objections. Before leaving, Bayaz proved who he is by opening the long-sealed House of the Maker, where he collected a heavy dark metal box whose purpose is likewise kept secret.
What happens to Glokta at the end of The Blade Itself?
Glokta finishes his case with the Guild of Mercers convicted of treason and dissolved, but the dying Magister Kault raves that the real power is the bank Valint and Balk — a lead Sult forbids him to pursue. Unable to prove Bayaz a fraud once the wizard opens the House of the Maker, Glokta is instead named the new Superior of Dagoska, an isolated Union outpost deep in Gurkish lands whose previous Superior, Davoust, has vanished and which faces imminent siege. Vitari joins his staff to spy for Sult, and the book's last line has him limping toward the docks asking himself once more why he does this.
Does Jezal win the Contest in The Blade Itself?
Yes, but the victory is rigged. In the final against the champion Bremer dan Gorst, Jezal is thoroughly outmatched and falls three touches behind — until Bayaz, sweating with effort in the stands, secretly pours his Art into Jezal, lending him borrowed strength and speed to rally and win. Glokta becomes convinced the match was fixed but cannot prove how. Rather than riding off to war with his regiment afterward, Jezal is ordered onto Bayaz's expedition.
What is the Bloody-Nine in The Blade Itself?
The Bloody-Nine is the cold, gleeful killing persona that seizes Logen whenever he loses control in a fight, and the source of his monstrous reputation in the North. It erupts at the end of the book when Superior Goyle's Practicals corner Ferro and Logen steps in to defend her. Taken over, he batters the Practical Vitari nearly to death, and Bayaz ends the standoff only by bursting one of the pursuing Practicals into red mist. They then run for their ship out of Adua.
Is anything resolved at the end of The Blade Itself?
Deliberately little — the book works as one long first act. By the close, the Guild of Mercers has been destroyed, Bayaz has proven he is truly the First of the Magi by opening the House of the Maker, Jezal has won his rigged Contest, and the Union's war with Bethod has formally begun. But the purpose of the Seed, the reach of Valint and Balk, and what Bayaz actually wants remain hidden, with the quest's goal a mystery even to the people pursuing it. Those threads run on into the sequels Before They Are Hanged and, after that, Last Argument of Kings.